GATINEAU — Dozens of toddlers wrapped in blankets and oversized coats were carried away from a Gatineau daycare Friday after two men died in an apparent murder-suicide, believed to have been sparked by a marital dispute.

None of the 53 children who attended the Racines de Vie Montessori school — in two houses in Gatineau, a community just across the river from Ottawa — were hurt in the shooting.

One body was found in each of the houses, which are across the street from a hospital campus.

Robert Charron, who is not a resident of Gatineau, was one of the men who died, police confirmed Friday night.

“We’re not commenting on his role,” said Sgt. Jean-Paul LeMay, adding that his age was intentionally withheld.

Police said they would not release the name of the other man until his family was notified. While police said that a recent marital separation might have played a role in the shooting, they emphasized there was no evidence at this time of a love triangle.

Daycare workers were lauded by police for keeping the children safe from the shooter.

But with so many children present in the two modest-sized houses, there’s a good chance some might have witnessed the shooting, said Gatineau police Chief Mario Harel.

There were five babies inside one house and 48 children aged up to five years old in the other.

When he heard about the shooting on the radio, Dave Sugden rushed over to check on his four-year-old daughter Hazel.

“I just about threw up,” Sugden said. “It’s terrifying.”

An hour later he and Hazel, in her pink jacket, were standing outside waiting for news.

Police were called to the educational daycare at 10:27 a.m. after a 911 call reporting a man with a gun was threatening people in the daycare. Officers arrived just three minutes later but the shooter was already dead.

One man was found dead on the floor with a shotgun by his side. The second man — a worker at the school — wasn’t found until all the children were removed from the house. Police were still investigating the sequence of events and said ballistics would determine whether the two men were killed by the same weapon. Shots were fired in both of the houses.

After the shooting, a neighbour took the children in and, along with paramedics, helped calm them down and brought in lunches.

Police later escorted children to their parents at the corner of Rue Gamelin and Boulevard Lionel-Emond.

A dozen police cruisers, at least seven ambulances, and two STO buses stood by to provide shelter.

Omar El Tawali said “all sorts of images” flashed through his head when he heard there was a shooting at the daycare his three-year-old daughter Zain attends. He found Zain unharmed and carried her away to find her mother, who was still crying two hours after the shooting.

“I don’t think the kids saw anything,” he said. Even after the shooting, he said, the daycare is “a great place, and it’s in a good area.”

Amar Singh, who lives less than a dozen houses down from the school, heard the chorus of sirens getting louder and louder but assumed that they were just passing by on the way to a major accident.

Instead ambulance and police vehicles stopped just feet away from his home, where he’s lived for 38 years.

“There’s no reason for me to worry about my own safety, but you don’t know in this day and age, especially with what we’ve heard about these shootings involving kids. Sometimes you worry,” Singh said. “These are small kids. What have they done to deserve this?”

Another neighbour, Michele Léveillé, said an officer ran on her lawn and told her to stay inside.

She has no idea who could have decided to go into the school. The neighbourhood is so quiet, Léveillé said, she hasn’t even heard the raised voices of a heated argument.

“I’ve never heard anything like that,” Léveillé said. “Never.”

Police were still investigating at the two houses where the shootings took place on Friday night. Police said no additional information about the investigation would be released until next week.

Police encouraged anyone who was in shock over the shooting to contact the crisis centre CAVAC (Centre d’aide aux victimes d’actes criminels) at 819-778-3555 or Centre 24/7 at 819 595-9999.